31 for 21

October 1, 2012 6:19 PM

31 for 21 in honor of National Down Syndrome Awareness Month, bloggers will be writing a blog article a day concerning the issues of Down syndrome. In addition, there is a blog hop of "best of" weekly posts.

The month also begins with Senator John Kerry agreeing to support the ABLE act, which will allow people with disabilities to save and prepare for the future (link, scroll down).

posted by plinth (6 comments total)

plinth, thanks for posting this. I have a couple of folks in my history who were Down's, they brought much joy...
posted by HuronBob at 10:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Thanks for posting, I am intrigued by the blog hop concept as an awareness tool.

Also, I didn't know about the issue the ABLE act is addressing, good for Kerry for supporting the initiative.

As someone who works for activist campaigns in Canada I am intrigued by the model of the Legislative Advocacy Task Force... is that a common thing for umbrella groups in the US to use?
posted by chapps at 10:35 PM on October 1, 2012

My sister had Down's syndrome (in the 50's they were referred to as "mongoloid", still the term that comes most easily to me). Her childhood in the UK state school system providing for such children was not fun.
posted by epo at 12:29 AM on October 2, 2012

Thanks for posting this. This is a group of folks who get a sort of one-note treatment in public discussion. One summer in college, I worked at a sleep-away camp for developmentally disabled people of all ages. A fair number of our campers had Downs. They're far more complex people than a lot of popular media would have you believe (you know, because they're people). Maybe it was just the folks who got sent to our camp, but the majority were *not* the constantly smiling, plucky elves you often see portrayed, although sometimes they could be. Rather they experience a full range of emotional stations, frustration to depression to joyful. This is still a vulnerable population, and you wonder what will become of them as social services continue to get slashed in the name of small gov't.
posted by smirkette at 7:06 AM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

Thank you for spreading the awareness, I was not aware!

The ABLE act is awesome, go Kerry.
posted by freejinn at 9:29 PM on October 2, 2012

Down Syndrome Through the Ages
posted by homunculus at 10:15 PM on October 2, 2012